1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for taking out a photographic treatment composition from a container to clean the empty container when photographic treatment solution for use in an operation for processing silver-halide color photographic photosensitive material is prepared. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for cleaning a container filled with a photographic treatment composition such that handling and transportation easiness can be realized, apprehension that contact of the photographic treatment composition with the hand occurring when the photographic treatment composition is dissolved can be eliminated and the state of filling is realized to be adaptable to an automatic developing machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a process of a silver-halide photographic photosensitive material, for example, a process of a silver-halide color photographic photosensitive material consists of steps for stabilizing an image including a color developing step, a step for removing silver and a cleaning step using water. In each step, solution (called xe2x80x9cprocessing solutionxe2x80x9d) is used which contains one or more types of processing chemicals except for the cleaning step using water. Since each processing solution has a relatively low density, it is improper that manufacture of each solution in a state in which the solution can be used, transportation of the solutions to a processing laboratory and preservation of the same are performed. The reason for this lies in that reduction in the cost and preserving space cannot be realized and easy handling is not permitted. Therefore, so-called rich processing solution is usually delivered which is obtained by filling a container with rich solution arranged to be diluted with water so as to be used.
The process for raising the concentration of the photographic treatment solution in the uniform liquid phase encounters a limitation because of restraint of the solubility and reactions of components. Therefore, the volume and weight cannot satisfactorily be reduced. Hence it follows that a suggestion has been made that the photographic treatment composition is formed into powder, granules, tablets or slurry so as to reduce the volume and the weight.
Although the foregoing method is effective to reduce the volume and the weight, there arises a problem in that collapsed fine particles in the composition in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry and coagulated and solidified fine particles adhere to the inner surface of the container and remain on the foregoing surface. A portion of the components of a solid photographic treatment composition, such as the tablets or granules, firmly adheres to the inner surface of the container because of slight moisture adsorption. Thus, the portion cannot easily be removed. The foregoing portion raises a problem from viewpoints of environmental conservation, safety work and recycling of the containers.
It is preferable that the container for the photographic treatment composition is reused to effectively utilize the resources. To achieve the foregoing object, a method has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-220722 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-82988, the method having the steps of discharging the components from the container; and cleaning the inside portion of the container with water.
When the foregoing method is applied to the components in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry such that cleaning water is poured to the solid or slurry particles, local coagulation and solidification occur. Thus, a portion of the component remains in the container and, therefore, the portion cannot easily be discharged from the container. When the components is in the form of the slurry, the particles of the components are introduced into the container. Thus, the slurry components cannot easily be removed by cleaning using water.
When the form of the photographic treatment composition is changed from the rich composition solution in a uniform phase to the components in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry, the volume and the weight can be reduced. Thus, easy transportation and handling and cost reduction can be realized. However, the foregoing problems must be overcome.
An object of the present invention is to overcome problems caused from considerable reduction in the volume of a photographic treatment composition and including adhesion of the components of the photographic treatment composition to a container and formation of coagulated and solidified substances which cannot easily be discharged when the photographic treatment composition in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry is taken out from the container to dissolve the photographic treatment composition to prepare a photographic treatment solution and the empty container is cleaned. Specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for cleaning a container for a photographic treatment composition in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry such that the photographic treatment composition can easily be taken out from the container, adhesion of the components to the wall of the container and remaining of coagulated and solidified substances in the container can be prevented and the inside portion of the container can satisfactorily be cleaned.
To achieve the foregoing objects, the inventor of the present invention has performed a variety of investigations. As a result, the facility of cleaning and removing the substances allowed to adhere to the wall of the container and coagulated and solidified substances considerably depends on the method of cleaning the container and the material of the container. As for the material of the container, a container made of a high-density polyethylene having a density and a melt index satisfying predetermined ranges enables a required cleaning effect to be obtained. A variety of investigation have furthermore been performed on the basis of the foregoing fact. As a result, the present invention has been achieved. That is, the foregoing objects can be achieved by the present invention having the following aspects.
1. A method of cleaning a container for a photographic treatment composition comprising the steps of: taking out a photographic treatment composition from a container to dissolve the photographic treatment composition in water; and cleaning the empty container so as to prepare photographic treatment solution, wherein the photographic treatment composition is in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry, the container filled with the photographic treatment composition comprises as a resin, only high-density polyethylene (HDPE) having a density of 0.941 to 0.969 g/cm3 and a melt index of 0.3 g/10 min to 5.0 g/10 min, the container is loaded into a cleaning apparatus, an inlet opening of the container is opened, the photographic treatment composition is injected into a dissolving tank, and cleaning water is sprayed to the inside portion of the empty container so as to clean the container.
2. A method of cleaning a container for a photographic treatment composition according to aspect 1, wherein the container for the photographic treatment composition is manufactured by blow molding using high-density polyethylene (HDPE) having a liquidity ratio of 20 to 30.
3. A method of cleaning a container for a photographic treatment composition according to aspect 1 or 2, wherein the operation for cleaning the inside portion of the container by spraying cleaning water is repeated spray cleaning which is performed such that spraying of cleaning water is performed plural times to perform intermittent spraying.
4. A method of cleaning a container for a photographic treatment composition according to any one of aspects 1 to 3, wherein cleaning water which has been used to clean the inside portion of the container is used as a portion or the overall portion of water for dissolving the photographic treatment composition.
5. A container for a photographic treatment composition arranged to be cleaned by the method of cleaning a container for a photographic treatment composition according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, the container for a photographic treatment composition comprising: an opening through which the photographic treatment composition is discharged; a cover or a sealing member for closing the opening; a bottom formed opposite to the opening; a columnar portion sandwiched between the opening and the bottom to substantially accommodate the photographic treatment composition; and a shoulder portion for joining the columnar portion and the opening, wherein
xe2x80x83the container is formed such that
(1) a surface of projection of the columnar portion on the surface of the bottom is in the form of a rectangle or a square having a long side, the length of which is 40 mm to 100 mm and a ratio of a short side with respect to the long side is 0.7 to 1.0 or a circle having an inner diameter of 40 mm to 100 mm,
(2) a ratio of the height of the columnar portion with respect to the long side or the inner diameter is 2.0 times to 4.0 times, and
(3) an angle of inclination (an angle made from the surface of the bottom) of the shoulder portion made from the columnar portion to the opening is 15xc2x0 to 45xc2x0.
6. An apparatus for cleaning a photographic treatment composition such that the photographic treatment composition is taken out from a container for the photographic treatment composition to dissolve the photographic treatment composition in water and the empty container is cleaned, the apparatus for cleaning a photographic treatment composition comprising: a dissolving tank, wherein the photographic treatment composition is in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry, the container filled with the photographic treatment composition comprises as a resin, only high-density polyethylene (HDPE) having a density of 0.941 to 0.969 g/cm3 and a melt index of 0.3 g/10 min to 5.0 g/10 min, the container is loaded into the cleaning apparatus, an inlet opening of the container is opened, the photographic treatment composition is injected into the dissolving tank, and cleaning water is sprayed to the inside portion of the empty container so as to clean the container.
The photographic treatment composition applied to the structure of the present invention is a composition in the form of powder, granules, tablets or slurry. The photographic treatment composition is characterized in that its volume is considerably reduced as compared with a usual photographic treatment composition in a uniform liquid phase. The disadvantage of the foregoing photographic treatment composition is that the reduction in the volume causes substances allowed to adhere to the wall of the container and coagulated and solidified substances which cannot easily be discharged to be produced. An essential portion of the present invention is that contrivances of the combination of the characteristics of the material of the container and the method of cleaning the container enable the foregoing substances to be removed.
The container for use in the cleaning method according to the present invention and capable of easily removing substances allowed to adhere to the wall of the container and coagulated and solidified substances by injection cleaning comprises as a resin only one resin component. The resin is high-density polyethylene (herein after called xe2x80x9cHDPExe2x80x9d) having a density of 0.941 to 0.969 g/cm3 and a melt index of 0.3 g/10 min to 5.0 g/10 min. It is preferable that the density is 0.951 to 0.969 g/cm3, more preferably 0.955 to 0.965 g/cm3. It is preferable that the melt index is 0.3 g/10 min to 4.0 g/10 min. The melt index is a value obtained by a measuring method conforming to ASTM D1238 under conditions that the temperature is 190xc2x0 C. and the load is 2.16 kg. Hereinafter the values of the melt index are those obtained by the above-mentioned conditions.
The container comprises as a resin only HDPE means a structure that the body of the container comprises as a resin only HDPE. Although it is preferable that the cap and sealing member of the container are made of the same material as that of the body of the container from a viewpoint of reusing of the material of the container, the foregoing structure is not always required.
In addition to the foregoing density and the melt index, the liquidity ratio of the HDPE is 20 to 30. When the foregoing material is used to perform the blow molding method for manufacturing the container, adhesion to the wall of the container can furthermore be prevented. In the foregoing case, a satisfactory result can be obtained. If the liquidity ratio is lower than 20, the smoothness of the surface of the molded container deteriorates. Therefore, a large quantity of unsolved substances adheres to the wall of the container. If the liquidity ratio is higher than 30, the glossiness of the surface of the container deteriorates. In this case, an estimation is made that the surface has been roughened.
The liquidity ratio is a value obtained by dividing a drift velocity (a melt flow velocity) of the resin measured by a method conforming to ASTM D1238 under conditions that the temperature is 190xc2x0 C. and the load is 11200 g with a drift velocity measured under the conditions that the temperature is the same and the load is 1120 g.
When the inside portion of the container is cleaned by spraying water, a single spraying operation for continuously spraying cleaning water in a predetermined quantity is not employed. The cleaning operation is performed by the repeated spray cleaning which is performed such that spraying of cleaning water is performed plural times to perform intermittent spraying. In this case, substances allowed to adhere to the wall of the container can considerably effectively be removed. When the intermittent spraying operation is performed three or more times, an effective result can be obtained. It is preferable that the number of spraying operations is three to ten times. It is preferable that the quantity of water which is sprayed in each of the spraying operations is 5 ml to 100 ml. If a multiplicity of spraying operations in each of which the quantity is 5 ml or smaller are performed (intervals of spraying are shortened) or if a small number of spraying operations is performed in each of which the quantity is 100 ml or smaller, a satisfactory effect of cleaning cannot be obtained as compared with the method in which the intermittent cleaning is not employed. The overall quantity of cleaning water may arbitrarily be determined if the quantity is smaller than the quantity of water which is added to the photographic treatment composition which is used to prepare processing solutions, such as replenishers, in the dissolving tank. It is preferable that the overall quantity of cleaning water is 50 ml to 500 ml. Water in a quantity corresponding to the difference between the quantity of diluting water required to prepare the replenisher by diluting the photographic treatment composition and the quantity of cleaning water is directly added to the inside portion of the dissolving tank.
The solidifying agent and dispersed slurry are usually allowed to adhere to the portion in the vicinity of the opening of the container when the composition is discharged from the container. Therefore, it is preferable that the portion in the vicinity of the opening is sprayed with water to clean and remove substances allowed to adhere to the foregoing portion.
A preferred apparatus for cleaning the treatment material according to the present invention is an apparatus for automatically cleaning the treatment material, in which a mounting portion for the container for the treatment material is provided at the upper portion. The container for the treatment material is mounted to the mounting portion such that the opening of the container faces downwards. Thus, the photographic treatment composition in the container is discharged into the dissolving tank. After the discharge has been completed, a flow of water injected through a nozzle inserted through the downward opening is used to clean the inside portion of the empty container.
An automatic developing apparatus where the above-mentioned preferred apparatus for cleaning the treatment material is integrated and the dissolving tank also serves as a replenisher accumulating tank is a concrete embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus for cleaning the treatment material may be provided independently from the developing apparatus.
The phenomenon that fine particles and/or coagulate substances adhere to the wall of the container and the phenomenon that substances are coagulate and solidified occur apparently in the following case: the photographic treatment composition contains alkali metal carbonate, such as potassium carbonate or sodium carbonate; alkali metal hydroxide, such as potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide; alkali metal sulphite; alkali metal borate; alkali metal thiosulfate; ammonium thiosulfate; color developing agent or black and white developing agent, such as hydroquinone. Therefore, the present invention is significantly effective when the components contains the foregoing chemicals.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments described in conjunction with the attached drawings.